


Sleeping Spell

by Bubbly_Kandy



Category: Adventures of Huckleberry Finn - Mark Twain, Adventures of Tom Sawyer - Mark Twain, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cataplexy, Chronic Illness, Chronically Ill Huckleberry Finn, Huck! Has! Narcolepsy!, My Huck voice is atrocious im so sorry, Narcolepsy, The boys are 8 or so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-19
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-11-25 19:26:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18170420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bubbly_Kandy/pseuds/Bubbly_Kandy
Summary: Polly Sawyer wasn’t a ‘normal’ woman, by any small, Southern hometown means. She’s widowed, she has a considerably young daughter for her age, and she took care of her two, orphaned nephews. Not to mention, the oldest was friends with the town’s drunkard’s son, a raggedy little thing named, of all things, Huckleberry, who had been missing his front teeth for a concerning amount of time.





	Sleeping Spell

Polly Sawyer wasn’t a ‘normal’ woman, by any small, Southern hometown means. She’s widowed, she has a considerably young daughter for her age, and she took care of her two, orphaned nephews. Not to mention, the oldest was friends with the town’s drunkard’s son, a raggedy little thing named, of all things,  _ Huckleberry, _ who had been missing his front teeth for a concerning amount of time. He was a naughty child; Tom had started to get more rebellious because of him. Even more than he already was, the attention-loving little snot.

Sid was her baby- he would sit on her lap and listen to her read as Tom and Huckleberry yelled and ran around outside. Mary was in charge of the older boys- Tom had told the two women that Huck had a not-so-small crush on Polly’s daughter. This allowed her to keep Huck under control much easier than her mother, which was a blessing in many ways. 

The two oldest knew there was something, well,  _ wrong  _ with Huckleberry. Other than his father being at least neglectful and absolutely nightmarish in other ways, Tom would come home telling them about how Huck would ‘fall down dead.’ Mary and Polly tried to find out what that meant- Tom wasn’t the best child, but when he was set to a task, he was determined. He would come home with stories about how Huck would laugh too hard and suddenly sit on the ground, nod off in class at random times, and even how he wasn’t allowed to participate in gym anymore because he would fall down in the middle of a lap and wouldn’t be able to get up. Tom always told the stories like they were comedies- Sid laughed and laughed, but the two oldest knew that, due to Tom’s nature and the way he told the stories, he was always at least a little scared.

Because of this, no matter how much trouble Huck got himself and Tom into, Polly couldn’t bring herself to fully dislike Tom’s friend. Even appearance-wise, Huck was painfully tiny, his cheeks thin instead of full, like Tom’s. His hair was a shaggy mess- Mary had to teach him how to brush his hair so that it wouldn’t turn into unmanageable snarls. Huck told them he would take baths in ponds and lakes, with his father’s shampoo. Mary spent a full two weeks researching exactly  _ what  _ was in the ponds and lakes around Huck’s little shanty. He was banned from three of them, Polly using some scare tactics to make sure he followed their instructions. 

Polly knew there was a limit. If she went sniffing around Huck’s personal life too much and stuck her nose in everything, she could very possibly make Huck’s deranged father angry and make things even worse for the poor child. She had to tell Mary many a time to stop telling Huck what to do, and she once had to teach Huck how to clean a bleeding wound so that it looked like an adult hadn’t helped him. 

She regretted not being able to do more. Huck was, above everything else, obviously ill- Tom’s stories had convinced her that Huck had some sort of chronic illness, from the sound of it either narcolepsy or even epilepsy. He was, obviously, not getting medication, which could be deadly in the worse case scenario. She told Mary to not be worried- Mary loved her Huckleberry, and she was starting to not get enough sleep over worrying about him. 

It, however, all came to a head one day when Huck was spending the weekend at their house. Polly was in the living room, reading a book as she sat in the chair closest to the air vent; not to keep cool, but to listen to the four children playing  _ Just Dance  _ in the basement. Tom was yelling, as always; Mary had to quiet him down multiple times, even once threatening in her own gentle way to send him up to read his books up with Polly. Tom quieted down quickly, but he was still talking louder than the others.

It was a cozy time for about an hour, the kids all talking eagerly downstairs and singing along to the songs as they danced. Polly nearly fell asleep- her book wasn’t that interesting, and the summer heat was making her drowsy. She put her book face-down on her lap, closing her eyes and starting to drift off.

She was woken up by a scream from downstairs, followed by Mary shouting  _ “Mom!”  _ in a panicked tone.

She wasted no time- she threw off her blanket and ran downstairs, swinging open the basement door. Sid immediately ran to her, tightly hugging her legs. She saw three children on the ground- “What happened?” She asked, placing a hand on Sid’s head. Mary’s hands were shaking as they fluttered around, Tom sitting beside her. Huck was fully on the ground, one leg bent like he was leaning on it when he fell, his face pressed against the floor.

Polly didn’t let the scene process for too long- “Come on, Mary,” she said, gently pushing Sid away from her. “Get him onto the couch- Tom, is this-”

“Don’t worry, he’s gonna wake up soon,” Tom said matter-of-factly, his fingers twisting and untwisting from each other. Mary gently picked Huck up, setting him on the couch and gently brushing his hair away from his face with her still-shaking hands. “Huck’s gonna be fine,” Tom added, springing up and skipping two steps to the couch. He shook his Wii remote off his wrist, dropping it onto a pillow and swinging his arms. Polly stood beside Mary, slightly bent over and watching Huck’s sleeping face. Tom leaned in to undo Huck’s own Wii remote from his wrist, Mary having to move her arm so Tom could reach.

“Tom, how fast does Huck wake up?” Mary asked, her voice quiet but clear. Tom shrugged, obviously trying to make it seem he wasn’t worried at all. (Polly could see right through his smart-assery and sunny smiles. He was spooked.)

“He’s doin’ it!” Sid suddenly gasped, pointing at Huck. He was right- Huck drowsily opened his eyes, squinting at Mary and Polly’s faces. 

“Wha’ happen?” He asked as he pushed himself up, blinking more and lazily rubbing his eyes with his fists. 

“You fell down dead,” Tom informed him, bouncing on the balls of his feet. Huck’s head suddenly dropped down to touch his chest, Mary gasping and running her fingers under his chin to help him hold it up. “Just like a bird goin’ to the bathroom-  _ splat!”  _ He emphasized this with a clap of his hands, Polly snapping her fingers at him to get him to quiet down. “What?”

“Thomas,” She warned, Tom pouting at her but regaining his sunny smile as Huck curiously tilted his head at him.

“Wha- wassa that?” Huck slurred, his head lolling around like it was too heavy for his body. Mary tried to get him to lay down again- Huck pushed her hands off, whining in the back of his throat to make her back off. “Tom, what’s-”

“Huck, are you alright?” Mary asked, Huck rubbing his eyes again, more harshly this time. He then nodded, making and breaking fists for a few moments. 

“Can we keep playing now?” Tom asked, Huck nodding in agreement. Mary stammered, Huck getting off the couch and balancing himself on his feet.

“Huck, maybe-” Mary started, cutting herself off with a gasp as Huck’s leg buckled. “Oh!”

Tom caught Huck by his arm, Huck regaining his balance and rubbing his eyes again, Tom letting go on his arm once he shook him off.

“Good pup,” Tom said, Polly snickering quietly before stifling it with her palm. Huck made a face at Tom, Mary standing uneasily.

“Huck, maybe you should relax for a while longer,” She said, putting her hands on Huck’s shoulders. “Just so-”

“No!” Huck said, wiggling out of Mary’s hold and grabbing the Wii remote. “I’m okay, truly I am! Sometimes I just do that- tell ‘em, Tom!”

“He just does that sometimes,” Tom repeated obediently. Huck looked up at the two women, his eyes starting to water. His bottom lip shook, and Polly quickly tried to provide damage control.

“Not forever, Huck,” she told him. Huck still pouted. Tom grabbed his own remote, clipping it onto his wrist again. He then began to fiddle with Sid’s, much to the younger boy’s chagrin. “Just for a while; you can stay down here, hm?”

Huck huffed, rubbing his eyes once again before sitting heavily on the couch, his mood obviously ruined. Tom tried to comfort him- he, however, bounced back to in front of the television once Mary unpaused the TV, starting to argue with Sid what song they should play next the second Polly left the room. 

Polly sat back in her chair, groaning to herself before picking up her book again. It was quiet for a little longer- she read her book and listened to the kids play downstairs. 

Soon, she could hear another person walk into the room- assuming it was Sid, she pointed a finger to the books, saying, “You read your book for a while, Sidney. Tell me if there’s a word you don’t know.”

“Ma’am?” Huck asked, Polly looking up from her book to see the boy standing in the doorway, a confused look on his face.

“Oh! My bad, Huck- I’m sorry. Are you feeling alright?”

Huck nodded, still going to where the books were and kneeling in front of the bookcase, running his hands over the spines with great care and caution. Polly looked down at her own book again, but looked up at the boy as he said, “I don’t need babyin’ after a sleepin’ spell, Miss Sawyer. I get up just fine in a few.”

“I know, Huckleberry.” Polly sighed through her nose, putting in a bookmark and closing her book completely, looking over her reading glasses at Huck. “But… how do you feel after them?”

“Tired,” Huck told her, pulling a book off the shelf and looking down at it. “This is a real pretty book, ma’am.”

“It is,” Polly agreed, internally rolling her eyes at the obvious way Huck was trying to divert her attention away from the topic. “Do you feel tired before, or does it just happen?”

Huck hesitated, rocking back and forth. Polly was about to tell him he wasn’t deaf and mute before he spoke again, saying, “Yes. But I guess I feel kinda sleepy all the time.” He opened the book carefully, gently tracing the words with his fingers. “My body just don’t like workin’ all the time, I guess.”

Polly sat and thought- what Huckleberry was describing sounded a heck of a lot like narcolepsy, and she had read about cataplexy with Mary. How could they help? She wasn’t about to pull a Tom move and try to lie her way into getting Huck medication- that could land her in jail, and Huck… No. Bad plan. Terrible plan. Throw it in the trash. 

The sound of tearing paper cut into her thoughts, and Huck was gone when she looked towards the source of the sound. She quickly inspected the rip- it was just on the corner of the page. It hadn’t even torn off. 

She shook her head, snapping the book closed and setting it on the bookshelf as she laughed gently. She could hear Tom’s excited babble as Huck reappeared downstairs, Sid yelling over him at one point. She opened her book, adjusting her glasses as she began to read once more.

She and Mary would discuss it tonight, when the boys were already sleeping and Tom (and Huck, if he ended up spending the night) wasn’t just faking. If this night was like any other night, they would talk for a good hour and find some good ideas before one of the boys would get up and ask them to quiet down, or Mary got too tired to function. But right now, she wouldn’t bother Mary. She just sat and read, listening to the children talk downstairs and hearing Sid’s victory yell as he, presumably, beat one of the older kids in a dance. 

They were all alright- Polly Sawyer wouldn’t have it any other way.

**Author's Note:**

> My other Tom fic is really sad so here's something more light hearted!
> 
> I did a lot of research on narcolepsy and cataplexy- however, if I wrote something wrong, please tell me!!
> 
> Thanks for reading!!


End file.
